SITAONAIR expands digital services scope with GTD Air Services acquisition

After partnering in the development of a digital weather awareness platform for pilots SITAONAIR announced this week that it will acquire GTD Air Services, bringing the operation fully in-house. The deal give a significant boost to the SITAONAIR Digital Day of Operations application portfolio.

We believe that embracing a digital shift – from air to ground, from pilots to dispatch – will reinvent the operation of aircraft flight and onboard experience, making it safer, more efficient, more environmentally sustainable and enjoyable. In this context, weather and situational awareness solutions like eWAS, combined with SITAONAIR’s Digital Day of Operations application portfolio, are becoming vital, strategic tools for both pilots and dispatchers, connecting them with real-time information at their fingertips.

– David Lavorel, Chief Executive Officer, SITAONAIR

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While the eWAS application will continue to integrate into SITAONAIR’s digital platforms for crew the development team at GTD Air will remain independent for the time being. It will continue to be based in Barcelona, Spain, and operate under a separate entity, in order to preserve its creativity and product development dynamic. As part of that “start-up dynamic” the GTD Air team is expected to grow its development role within the larger organization. SITAONAIR expects GTD to increase development capacity in the Digital Day of Operations application space, beyond just the eWAS solution.

SITAONAIR CEO David Lavorel sees significant upside in pilot support to increase operational efficiency and ride comfort as the GTD group further integrates into the company, “It is imperative we support pilots and airlines to enhance their digital operations so they can avoid the avoidable. Now, with GTD Air Services experts on-board, we present an even stronger offering to our customers, and we look forward to our venture taking shape.”

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As with many weather solutions the eWAS platform delivers significant value to pilots with its observational and forecast data updated on the ground prior to a flight. For longer flights the pilots will benefit from refreshed forecast details but only if the data can be updated. This relies on an active internet connection on board. This can be either a dedicated link for flight deck use or shared on the cabin network, depending on airline choice.